Heartless People

TWENTY-TWO

On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both man and beast; I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.

~ Exodus 12:12

CAMILA.

"Honey, Im back. The storm is really picking up," he said as he closed the door behind him and hung up his jacket.

"Honey?"

His wet shoes squeaked upon the floorboards as he came farther into the house. I heard him reach into the drawer and pull out what was most likely the
revolver my father had gifted him years ago.

When he finally came around the corner he saw her, slumped over the couch.

"Violet!" He rushed toward her.

"She didn't suffer," I said to him, and his head snapped up to me as I drank the wine. "In fact, we had a perfectly nice chat. I brought the wine, of course, Uncle Vinnie. A 1961 Barolo Riserva. You told Fedel you loved it, did you not?"

Reaching over for the bottle on the coffee table, I poured him some in the empty glass I had left out for him before refilling my own.

"It truly is magnificent. You can tell they put effort into every one of the grapes. My father took me to his vineyard home in Tuscany; it was beautiful.
The rolling hills, the smellI loved it, far more than I loved Bosa. The town was so boring, but my father told me he could never escape the place he was from.
The people there were the most loyal and true hed ever met. I believed him too; after all, he had friends like you, Uncle Vinnie. You swore never to betray my
family and yet here I sit, across from your dead wife, drinking wine, talking about Tuscany and my father, when all I want to do is put a bullet in your skull."

I savored the taste of the wine on my lips.

"I never betrayed the Giovanni's Emilio is—"

"Don't you dare!" I hissed, my grip on the glass tightening. "You point to some mutt on the street and think he compares to me? That he is better than me because what, he has a penis? You know nothing about him or what he believes or if he even gives a damn at all. My father chose me, and you disrespected that choice."

He stood taller, stepping away from his wife and facing me directly. "If you are going to kill me, do it now. Im sure you've taken the bullets out of this anyway."

He threw the revolver my feet. Reaching down, I grabbed it and held it back up, handing it to him.

"Im not going to kill you, Uncle Vinnie—"

"Well, you're a damn fool if you think Im going to tell you anything."

I fucking hated it when people interrupted me; it drove me in-fucking-sane!

Taking a deep breath once again, I held the gun up at him.

He took the gun and I told him, "You are going to kill yourself."

"Why would I do that?"

I shrugged. "Because you know you aren't getting out alive either way, so why bother? At least, you can say you left on your own choice."

He paused for a moment, holding the gun to himself. "You are evil."

"Says the man who killed dozens of men alongside my father," I replied, and before I could blink, he turned the gun to me, but another gun went off first, the bullets striking his chest.

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

Three shots total, and he fell down as I sipped more wine and Lauren stepped up right behind me. Holding the glass up to her, she handed me the gun so she could take a drink.